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Hamas imposes travel ban on IFJ safety trainer in Gaza

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(IFJ/IFEX) - In a strongly worded letter, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today accused the Hamas administration in Gaza of sabotaging the Federation's safety training for Palestinian women journalists. The letter to Prime Minister Ismael Haneya followed the decision of Hamas to ban the IFJ safety trainer in Gaza, Sami Abu Salem, from travelling to Cairo to deliver a training session marking the International Day of Women.

“We consider this initiative to be crucial for the welfare and safety of Palestinian women journalists who are daily exposed to dangers that may even threaten their lives,” said the letter signed by IFJ President Jim Boumelha, describing the ban as “an appalling callous act for your administration to have prevented Mr. Abu Salem from travelling to Cairo to deliver the training.”

According to the Palestine Journalists' Syndicate (PJS), an IFJ affiliate, Abu Salem was questioned about the reasons for his travel to Cairo. He was then asked to get permission from the Government Press Office (GPO), something the PJS said was never required of him before when he crossed the border.

The story took another twist when the director of the GPO in Gaza, Salamah Marouf, told the journalist that his office does not issue permissions for journalists to travel abroad. He suspected that somebody had filed a complaint against Salem for identity theft.

The IFJ rejected this allegation as a lame excuse to justify the ban and warned the Hamas administration over the journalist's rights.

“The IFJ holds your government responsible for protecting his right to travel, work and help other journalists,” the letter added.

Israeli forces closed three West Bank radio stations in November for allegedly inciting violence, while the PA suppressed a Hamas-affiliated television station and sought to close the local office of a London-based Arabic news outlet.

Despite the difficult situation in Palestine, politically and socially, Palestinian female journalists have been active and engaged in press offices and field work, and they have proven merit, professionalism, and courage while covering events in the field fraught with serious attacks and life-threatening risks.

Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms - MADA 3 March 2016

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With the environment now recognized as a major challenge for humankind, Reporters Without Borders believes that particular attention should be paid to the journalists who take greats risk to investigate sensitive, environment-related subjects. The report highlights a steady deterioration in the situation for environmental reporters, who are increasingly exposed to many kinds of pressure, threats and violence.

The Pakistani government has significantly expanded its communication interception activities. This Privacy International report covers the intelligence services plan to capture all IP-traffic in Pakistan and other initiatives, pointing to gaps in the laws governing surveillance.

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Press freedom in the Philippines continued to be under attack from 2014 to 2015. The killing of journalists is continuing, with four journalists killed from May 2014 to May 2015. The trial of the accused masterminds of the Ampatuan (Maguindanao) Massacre and their supposed henchmen is continuing, but with a primary accused was released, while a witness in the same case was killed.

The year 2014 saw Malaysians standing up to exercise the rights guaranteed under the Federal Constitution, including freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. This continues a growing trend of facing up to state oppression. Unfortunately, this has been met with increasing repression. Malaysia has seen a concerted crackdown on the freedom of expression in the year 2014, which has escalated even further in 2015.

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